Your laptop may soon be gesture-ready. This week Microsoft released its SDK (software development kit) for Kinect for Windows. This should allow developers to create lots of cool applications that take advantage of Kinect’s gesture and speech-recognition technology.

Additionally, Microsoft said its distribution partners in 12 launch countries are starting to ship the Kinect for Windows hardware. The suggested retail price is $249, and the company says later this year it will offer special academic pricing of $149 for qualified users. So in the near future you should be able to buy a Kinect sensor bar for your computer and start playing some pretty cool games.

But what this announcement might really mean is that Kinect will now branch out into an entire world beyond games. We’ve been hearing hints of some nifty applications that developers are looking to create, and it seems the sky is the limit. Right now, before any applications have yet emerged, it’s fun to daydream about how people might put Kinect’s capabilities to use.

There’s been buzz about applications for healthcare. This could be a boon for telemedicine. For instance, Kinect can analyze gestures in significant detail. Maybe a patient who lives a long way from a doctor could use a Kinect application to diagnose a sprained elbow. A software program could instruct the patient to move his arm in certain ways, analyze the results, and then communicate them to a doctor. Perhaps it’s a long shot to think the software could tell a sprained elbow from a healthy one, but it’s an idea.

I can also imagine applications useful for remote-monitoring of older adults. A Kinect application could run in the background and detect motion, perhaps sensing if someone has fallen. Of course, the person would have to be in the line-of-sight of the computer, but it’s another way to think about the possibilities of the device.

I’m looking forward to hearing about the actual applications developers come up with for Kinect for Windows. I’m willing to bet they will create things I can’t even imagine.

Don’t leave the hall lights on; don’t open the window when the A/C is running; unplug unused electronics to cut back on vampire power—all of these actions contribute to energy savings, if only a little. And yet, if we care so much about saving a few watts here and there, why don’t we pay more attention to the really big energy wasters?

While I’m stressing about overheating my apartment by a degree or two, there’s two nearly empty parking garages within a mile that are lit up like baseball stadiums 24/7. Hmm. In fact, an estimated $2 million worth of energy costs is wasted each day in parking garages alone.

Luckily, someone has applied M2M technology and come up with a solution.

That “someone,” is the team at TwistHDM. Connected World met with TwistHDM last year, and at the time we were pretty impressed with its dedication to LimeLight, the company’s M2M-powered, high-density mesh-network solution that allows remote monitoring and control of lighting in parking garages.

LimeLight gives garage owners and operators the tools they need to cut back on energy usage in a pretty extreme way. On the most basic level, after dark, the wireless lighting-control solution uses motion sensors to provide light where light’s needed (where people are), and no where else. It’s a basic idea that’s executed well, and it could prove to be revolutionary.

Think about LimeLight in terms of cost savings: TwistHDM estimates if every garage were equipped with the technology, the energy saved throughout a 15-year period would be enough to power New York City for more than two years!

And now, LimeLight is integrating with Philips Outdoor LED luminaires, which adds even more to the value proposition. The control system will manage the Philips luminaires through its ZigBee-based wireless control technology, automatically adjusting each light’s output based on the amount of natural light during the day and leveraging the motion-sensing functionality after dark. Cool stuff.

M2M also offers a ton of other benefits to corporate adopters, like the ability to streamline maintenance, remotely control and schedule lighting as needed, etc.

Since I personally do not own or operate a parking garage, I will continue to do my part to cut back on energy use—like unplugging my toaster when I go on vacation. In the meantime, I’m relieved to know there are innovative minds putting M2M to work and making the world a bit greener.

Last week’s ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court has some people concerned about the future of GPS tracking devices. In short, GPS (global positioning system) devices are very important and serve a critical role in the marketplace. The recent court decision does not change how effective and viable these devices are for keeping tabs on children, pets, elderly, sex offenders, fleets, and so much more. The ruling in general is a little tricky. But from what I am gathering, the Supreme Court justices made it clear that law enforcement can’t just surreptitiously place a tracking device on a suspect’s car. Now here’s the tricky part that I think some people might be having a little trouble interpreting the ruling. The question is whether a warrant or court order is required. Some reporters are interpreting the ruling as a warrant or court order is required.

The answer is yes and no. But let me explain. When the early announcement of the ruling came out, the general media really did focus on the warrant side of the issue, shedding a pretty dark light on the future of GPS devices in general. And this is really what I want to focus on.

Many of the tech companies called me and asked me to write a blog to shed a little more light on the high-court ruling. At the onset, let me be clear, I am not a lawyer. I am a journalist who has been covering the tech space for more years than I would like to admit. And with that said I should be able to lend some insight into the tech side of the discussion. As for the overall legal discussion, I am sure there are much smarter people than I who would like to chime into the debate, and I encourage them to do so. It’s also important to note that anytime we are discussing Supreme Court rulings nothing is as cut and dry as we all would like it be.

Before we discuss the ruling, we need to step back and understand how this all came about. The ruling came after federal officials overstepped their bounds in 2005 when they—without a court order—attached a tracking device to Antoine Jones’s Jeep (United States v. Jones). More importantly, the justices were concerned that the installation of a GPS device on a suspect’s vehicle and then the tracking of him around the clock to record the public places the car traveled is a violation of Fourth Amendment rights of search and seizures.

Candidly, what makes this an important case is the discussion about privacy, technology, and the scope of the Fourth Amendment. It’s really not a discussion about the effectiveness of GPS technology in general. Unfortunately, that is the path that some have taken the discussion.

This case questions the police and their authority to use GPS devices to track bad people day and night, 24/7 anywhere they go with and without a court order. Does this impinge on your right to be free of unreasonable searches? The real kicker here is what if you are not a bad guy, but the police think you are? Should they be allowed to track you if they suspect you are doing something wrong? What if they just want to track you on a hunch? Now we are getting to the really stickiness of the ruling.

But even more troublesome it seems the Supreme Court justices appear to have reservations about using GPS tracking as a law enforcement tool in general. With all due respect, what this indicates to me is that they still don’t understand the technology and what it ultimately means to society. Every technology can be used inappropriately, let’s be honest about that. However, what we should be considering is whether the greater good outweighs the negative?

Because of the amazing nature of this high-tech solution, it won’t be long before the Supreme Court will be grappling with similar concerns about law enforcement and other issues associated with tracking. More and more cases of this nature will appear before the U.S. Supreme Court and it will set the stage for how we all embrace these solutions and many others that will emerge. The U.S. Supreme Court did not say GPS was wrong, but rather it has more concerns about how law enforcement can use this technology when tracking individuals.

Simply, installing a GPS device is a search that may or may not require a warrant, and it strongly hints, and even suggests, that long-term monitoring of such a device will require a warrant. In addition, the Supreme Court does not hold that the installation of such a device requires a warrant. What’s more, it’s anyone’s guess as to whether the GPS device can be monitored for more than a couple of days. Again therein lies the legal rub in understanding the court’s decision.

As I said, I am not an attorney, but I do love technology and we live and breathe it every day here at Connected World. I can only hope all the Supreme Court justices understand the true value these advances will have on our lives, both positively and negatively. GPS devices have the ability to do so much good if applied appropriately. Let’s hope that we do not lose sight of the greater purpose these devices can serve.

During the next decade or so we can expect judges and legislators will grapple with all the new connected gadgets that are quickly emerging on the marketplace, in an effort to apply some form of jurisprudence to the technology. All of these issues will cause significant challenges and some significant migraines for American law and the combined emerging technology marketplace. So this ruling is just the beginning of so much more to come.

It can be easy to envy Apple. Recently reinstated as the world’s most valuable company after a glowing earnings report caused its share value to surge, the tech firm is also sitting on top of one of the most coveted gadgets around.

Yes, I’m talking about the iPad. I know you’re probably sick to death of hearing about it, but some recent facts regarding this nifty connected device cannot be ignored. Apple said it sold 15.43 million iPads during the last three months of 2011. How many PCs did Hewlett-Packard, arguably the world’s largest PC maker, ship? According to research firm IDC, HP shipped 15.12 million computers in the fourth quarter of 2011. Lenovo shipped 13.01 million, and Dell shipped 11.97 million PCs.

So what does this mean? It means Apple is moving more iPads than each of these companies is moving PCs, individually. Does it mean the tablet will kill the PC? I don’t think we can make that assumption from the data. Yes, the iPad is selling like hotcakes, but that doesn’t mean tablets as a category will overtake PCs (or laptops for that matter).

A lot of people already have a PC. They may have added an iPad to the mix. After all, iPads can be fairly inexpensive compared to shelling out for a new desktop. If I had to give my opinion (which is luckily what blogs are all about!) I would guess there is room for the desktop, the laptop, the Ultrabook, the netbook, and the tablet in our world.

Customization is the key. People want a device that fits into their lifestyle, and they want it to be the exact size they need. This means some people want a 12-inch screen tethered to their desk. Others want a 7-inch screen they can slip into a briefcase. So instead of arguing about which category of device will ultimately win out, let’s just accept that variety is the new norm, and that people will demand devices with wildly differing specs.

In M2M, it’s easy to get caught up in all the cellular talk. But let’s not forget the role short-range communications play in the whole scheme of allowing machines to talk to machines. In particular, Wi-Fi comes to the forefront with some decent news activity lately.

Let’s start with a company named Redpine Signals. Have you heard of it? The wireless chipset company just came to market with a product it calls WiSeConnect, a self-contained low-power Wi-Fi module for M2M with all regulatory compliance built in. Okay, why is this so significant, you may ask? Well the module features Wi-Fi Direct and enterprise security required for M2M connectivity that features 802.11n Wi-Fi. This could mean a painless rollout of multiple devices into a network at a fast and manageable pace.

I like the example the company uses with regards to the industrial and medical markets, where different types of equipment can be connected instantly to the corporate or hospital network with full enterprise-level security through use of the module. These markets are good examples of where the hot opportunities exist, as everyone is trying to enable M2M in healthcare, but are cautious with regards to security. This self-contained module could be a difference maker in rolling out devices in such an environment.

Also on the topic of Wi-Fi, I had a chance to sit through a demonstration at CES from Texas Instruments where the company gave a sneak peek at its SimpleLink Wi-Fi CC3000 family of products. Again, this product touts the fact it is a self-contained 802.11 network processor, which should speed devices to market that leverage Wi-Fi.

Of particular note, TI wants to take advantage of the expected influx of Wi-Fi-enabled M2M devices set to hit the market in the next few years, and the SimpleLink Wi-Fi CC3000 leverages the existing Wi-Fi infrastructure in order to make even your more conventional products become M2M products.

The demonstration they showed us was a Wi-Fi-enabled crock pot. Brilliant, is what I thought during the demo—I am far too paranoid to leave the crock pot on at home all day, for fear my chili pot might malfunction and burn the house down. My wife calls me paranoid; I call it looking out for the unexpected! Now with a Wi-Fi-enabled crock pot I might get an alert if something were to happen or I could control this “non-traditional M2M” thing from my office.

One more item of note: Aerohive Networks. The company offers cloud-enabled Wi-Fi and routing solutions for companies. I am still getting to know this company, but it looks to leverage the convergence of mobile, the cloud, and Wi-Fi to enable some interesting networking options. Stay tuned for more on this one.

More and more often, the person making decisions about what technology to bring into a home is a woman. That’s the message to take away from some recent articles and studies about the users of technology, and connected tech specifically.

I hesitate to bring this up, because any time you start talking about women and consumer electronics you can fall into the trap of talking about all the ways companies need to design their products to appeal to females. While product designers are obviously crafting some devices to appeal more to women, and some more to men, no doubt based on mountains of market research, the main takeaway is that in general we’re all pretty crazy about technology.

And in many cases, women are the leaders in using connected technology. A study by Parks Associates says women are 73% more likely than men to have watched a full-length TV show online in the past 30 days. Additionally, women have higher purchase intentions than men for almost all of the popular consumer electronics devices.

In the gaming category women are particularly heavy users, with Parks Associates reporting they are 40% more likely than men to play games on Facebook. Parks also says women are becoming more frequent users of gaming consoles, and they make up the majority of Nintendo Wii players, as well as owning about half of the Microsoft Xbox 360 and Sony PS3 devices.

Women are big Internet and mobile gamers. MocoSpace, a large gaming site on the Web, studied its users and reported its platform sees nearly equal traffic from men and women.

All this data leaves marketers and manufacturers trying to discover what women want in their connected devices. And the answer is more than products with pink covers. Women demand ease of use and a seamless integration with their everyday lives. But isn’t that what everyone is looking for in the end?

Earlier this week, Connected World covered Telular’s new line of 3G-enabled wireless security solutions. As the editors spoke with Shawn Welsh, the company’s vice president of marketing and business development, about the announcement, it quickly became clear that however interesting Telular’s new products—such as its 3G PERS unit—were, the real conversation revolved around what Telular was describing as the so-called “2G sunset” related to IP-based security. We were curious, just how will OEMs and solution providers in the security space that have traditionally dealt in 2G make the switch to 3G?

The term “2G sunset” would lead me to believe this is an event, but one that will take place so gradually that, like a sunset, it will likely end with a pitter patter, not a bang. Essentially, the term refers to the point in time when 2G products will be forced to evolve to the next generation of cellular network—in this case, 3G.

For Telular, which provides M2M-enabled security solutions via its Telguard product line, this posed a problem. It had reached a point where it was no longer beneficial for its customers (primarily residential and commercial security dealers) to continue to install 2G GSM or GPRS products. Welsh says the question became: How do we make the company’s position on the 2G sunset clear to dealers?

While its announcement last week that the company will cease manufacturing of 2G products and move everything over the 3G (100% by April) may have come as a shock to some dealers, Telular also announced it will absorb all of the costs associated with the more expensive 3G hardware.

Not only is the company not changing its prices, its not changing model numbers, either. Welsh says the company decided to approach the issue as transparently as possible, making its strategy regarding 2G and the switch to 3G perfectly clear to its dealers and to all interested parties.
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To do so, Telular offers an “impact calculator” on its Website (www.2Gsunset.com), which will help companies understand the switchover’s financial impact. Welsh says the impact will be equivalent to about one month of recurring revenue; Telular hopes that as a result of its efforts, dealers will be able to spread that amount over the course of five years.

While the end of the line for 2G is likely still a ways out, there will eventually come a time when the sun will set on 2G, and it will fully rise on 3G. Now, the question is, how long until the 4G sunrise?

At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this past week I had a chance to test out Nintendo’s new gaming system the Wii U, a gaming console that at first glance looks exactly like original Wii, but is actually way cooler with a large touchscreen controller.

Okay, I was probably one of many journalists that Nintendo invited up to its suite for a private one-on-one meeting to test the new device that was announced late last year, but is expected to go on sale later this year.

With complete full disclosure, I only agreed to visit Nintendo because my youngest son really wanted me to get the scoop on the new system, and gaming is growing rapidly in this connected world. But I have to admit, I really enjoyed learning about the new gaming system.

First and foremost, I am not a gamer. I don’t pretend to be one. However, I have spent my fare share on systems and games for my three children. So I am well aware of Zelda, Mario Brothers, and Wii Sports.

Couple that with being the founder of tech magazine and I think I can hold my own with the true gamers of the world—at least when it comes to talking up tech. In fact, when I did come home from CES, it was probably the first time I was able to see my youngest son stay engaged during a dinner conversation. He was truly excited to hear about the new device. So Nintendo, you instantly scored high marks with a true gamer, as I explained the new system which basically revolves around a new controller with its own screen.

Now keep in mind the device I tried, as well as my staff, is still being tweaked by Nintendo so by the time it’s released who knows what the Wii U will be able to do. In addition to a new system is the new controller which has a pretty nifty 6.2-inch touchscreen that interacts wirelessly with the main console. The controller has motion detection when moving it up and down, or tilting it side by side.

As I said at the outset, I’m not a gamer, so I brought my older son who is a good gamer to get his insights on this new system. At first glance, we both thought it was a nice improvement over the original Wii to see a separate screen on a controller. In fact, the more I watched my son play the more he was totally at ease with using the controller.

I tried to play the “Chase Mii” demo game of where two or even four characters on the screen try to catch each other using the Wii remote or the controller depending on the game. And it was oh so obvious I was out of my element as a gamer.

While I could play, it was clear, my son was comfortable moving the controller and manipulating the characters around the maze like a champion. Even though he was being chased by the Nintendo gamers playing against him, he outpaced them every time. He brought his game and proved he was a real gamer. Then he played a game with the new Wii controller flying around as a space ship to shoot other players who are on the ground using the motion detection of the new remote to fly. Talk about sensors and tech all coming together here using different screens. It was great. My son took the Nintendo gamers to task.

It’s pretty clear Nintendo is taking its graphics to the next level, as demonstrated by sneak peek at the future Zelda game. The main gameplay will still reside on your TV, but now gamers will also be able to bring gaming to their controllers so others can watch and then send back to even participate. What will Nintendo think of next for next-generation gamers?

When I hear people talk that we will all be viewing more Web content on our televisions than on our computers in five years, I tend to be skeptical. But this little anecdote was brought up to me on more than one occasion this week at CES. And by the looks of it, the major TV manufacturers are pushing hard to ensure the television is indeed one of the four screens that help you stay connected.

With so much hype around the smartphone, tablet, and notebook, we sometimes tend to forget that the connected devices community is also making a strong push to sell us on the concept of the connected television—i.e., that fourth screen for content. In essence, the television has seemingly gotten lost in the discussion about connected devices in the past year or so. Sure, TV makers tried to make a splash with 3D TVs a few years back (and a few were still riding that wave at this year’s CES), but for all intents and purposes this segment has not taken off as desired.

To me, that won’t change until the experience itself of watching TV changes. For instance, viewing Web content on the TV isn’t all that attractive of an experience. Or at least, it hadn’t been. Putting the Web on the TV, for the most part looked like …. well, putting the Web on a TV. No offense, but if I want Web content I will go to my notebook or tablet. When I want to watch TV, I will go to my TV. And not vice versa. But perhaps that might not be the case soon.
The TV manufacturers made some interesting developments addressing that front at this year’s CES, really focusing on improvement around that TV viewing experience. First off you had Panasonic, which seemed to dominate the Central Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center with everything from TVs to EV charging stations.

Sitting down with Merwan Mereby, Panasonic’s VP of interactive content and services, was an enjoyable experience. For the record, it is the third time we had a chance for a one-on-one with Panasonic’s IPTV executive—he gave us an exclusive interview for the Jan/Feb cover story. I like Mereby’s emphasis on the fact that Panasonic is not “in the numbers race” but rather is focused on creating the ideal user experience, with the belief that the interaction a viewer has with the TV will help drive the types of services and experiences they will want from that TV.

Panasonic is well on the way to making sure that experience is exactly so. Whereas in years past Panasonic was shipping connected TVs with a preloaded set of apps that the company felt consumers desired, they are instead allowing you to use its Viera Connect Market to download apps that fit nearly every want and need. The company has opened up access to its SDKs for applications developers, and they are delivering everything from customized gaming, fitness, energy management, and even an interesting karaoke app.
Partnerships with fitness OEMs like Withings and Nordic Track, among others, are delivering products that you can combine with the TV as well that will help you train virtually for that marathon. For the record, you can also buy such products through the Viera Connect Market.

I think Panasonic really has something here with the application development and the Viera Connect Market. Both ideas could go a long way in spring-boarding the connected TV experience more.

Also on the TV front we had a chance to demo a forthcoming Android smart TV from Lenovo. The TV is set to launch first in China (as is typically for Lenovo products) with the hope that it will come state side later in 2010.

This set includes video on-demand, a set of Android apps, voice recognition, and even motion-controlled gaming where the remote control turns into this touch sensitive gaming controller that also includes a microphone. I like the way Lenovo made the interaction with the TV through the remote control—a familiar and comfortable experience that most consumers will be reticent to abandon for use of their smartphone or tablet, for example.

In fact, many of what Lenovo showed us—across all four screens—had potential for really changing the game in the world of connected devices. From a notebook with a screen that flips 360 degrees to become a tablet, to a touch enabled all-in-one PC that you can lie flat for purposes of things like gaming, the lineup is sure to turn some heads.

As for the TV, I think some of the big OEMs are on the right path. I think the focus on that user experience is a winning formula for marking the eventually return of that fourth screen to our connected consciousness.

If I were to pick out one of the themes that really stood out to me at this year’s CES, I would have to point to all the API talk. Everyone from automakers to television manufacturers were promoting heavily the idea of opening up the application programming interface to their products in order to create more exciting products going forward.

It started with OnStar announcing the fact it is giving selected developers access to a proprietary API, with the intent to create mobile apps to interact with the OnStar suite of services. Apps created will use the same cloud platform that enables and delivers standard OnStar services. The company cites emergency and security services as being among the most important services to its customers, but envisions a range of different types of services that can be introduced by developers.

The peer-to-peer Relay Rides is the first official partner announced using the open API, but OnStar execs certainly believe sky’s the limit for just what types of apps can be created around the system. This goes for both consumer and business use. This is why I think the Relay Rides announcement was so significant, showing a blend of both consumer and business services—allowing people to rent out their idle cars to peers while controlling usage and rates. Maybe you get some creative developers out there that figure out how to connect the car to things like your fitness routines, your energy footprint, or emergency services. Who knows?

Panasonic was talking open application development too with its line of VIera Connect televisions. While units will still ship with a selection of preloaded apps for that connected television experience, Panasonic knows that not everyone values the ability to simply Skype or surf the Web from their TV. Perhaps you are more of the gaming kind, or want to have your TV at the center of your fitness routine, or want to track your energy efficiency habits. Well now, application developers can be hard at work developing apps that fit your needs and can be delivered straight to your Viera Connect television via another innovative service from Panasonic—the Viera Connect Market.

Of course AT&T made a big splash prior to the show with the announcement of its API Platform. Developers building apps using HTML 5 will have access to some unique features from AT&T with plans for an HTML 5 store later this year too.

I like the emphasis that these companies are placing on the user experience. Whether they realize it or not, all three companies are taking bold steps in the direction of enabling the next generation of the connected world. While the devices themselves are still very much important, it is that user experience that will truly drive the market. Once you open users’ eyes up to what is possible through the access to timely and relevant data, you begin to empower them to push the limits on technology. Users will be the drivers for the next generation of devices, and by creating the customizable experience, companies like AT&T, OnStar, and Panasonic demonstrate the fact they know where the future exists.